Eating a well-balanced diet, exercising, and visiting your doctor for regular exams are important steps for a healthy lifestyle. As a woman, you probably already understand the importance of an annual gynecological exam and pap smear, but other tasks are also necessary to maintain your physical and emotional health and well-being. Unfortunately, simple tasks that you may do every day could actually be harming your body. Here are a few surprising things your gynecologist wants you to stop.

Wearing Thongs

Thong underwear are popular for women who want to avoid panty lines. Although considered sexy, these skimpy undergarments can actually affect your gynecological health in a negative manner.

Thongs pull and squeeze, irritating the skin on your legs, buttocks, and vagina. This irritation can lead to itching, swelling, and inflammation. Over time, the irritation on your skin can also increase your risk of yeast and bacterial infections, which are not only uncomfortable, but also dangerous if left untreated.

Ignoring Painful Intercourse

Many women believe pain and discomfort during sexual intercourse is normal from time to time. However, that is not actually true. If you are experiencing pain during intercourse, do not ignore it.

Pain around the vagina, labia, or pelvis during and after intercourse could stem from a variety of medical conditions including a sexually-transmitted disease, urinary, yeast, or bacterial infection, or even excessive dryness due to menopause.

In addition, many women suffer with pain due to vulvodynia. This condition causes severe pain of the vulva area. Although it does not have any known cause, managing or treating vulvodynia through physical and emotional therapy is possible.

Douching

In the past, douching was a common method of cleansing the vagina after intercourse or menstruation using a solution of chemical products or vinegar. The practice has been passed on through generations, but gynecologists no longer recommend douching.

The cleansing products in most douching solutions will alter natural acidity and good bacteria in the vagina, which increases the risk of infections.

Also, the douching process can actually push harmful bacteria deeper into the vaginal canal. This could cause infections in the uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovaries. The infection of these important reproductive organs can decrease your ability to become pregnant, as well.

Wearing thongs, enduring discomfort during sex, and douching should not continue if you want to improve your gynecological health. Consult your gynecologist today to learn about other methods of protecting your female reproductive system.